Loading device for refrigerated storage compartments



June 1, 1954 s. BOHN 2,630,053

LOADING DEVICE FOR REFRIGERATED STORAGE COMPARTMENTS Filed D60. 21, 1950 FIG.2.

)2 JiFl Z/ 20 FIG.3. 4 Z? 00 37 9 SAMUEL BOHN BY I ATTORNEY Patented June 1, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT O FFlCE LOADING DEVICE FOR REFRIGERATED STORAGE ZGOMPARTMENTS :Samuel Bohn, Nutley, N. J.

Application December 21, 1950, Serial'No.I201,'918

4 Claims. 1

This invention :relates to refrigerated display cabinets, and more particularly, to the storage compartments thereof, by which is :meant the lowermost portion ;of refrigerated display comlpartments. This lowermost portion or base :has one or more doors ,giving access to the lower storage space, such doors being sufficiently :large to permit passage .of cases, either wooden or metal cases or large cartons of corrugated board or the like. It is the practice in food stores to place quantity or case slots of the various commodities displayed and vended, in the storage compartment of the cabinet, and to replenish the display shelves and bins from the case lots kept in the storage compartment.

The :expression frefrigerated display vcabin'e is used generically ;to include all types of such cabinets, :such as: refrigerated cabinets having shelves 'and maintained in refrigerated condition by doors, eitherrhinged or sliding, which must be opened totreach'thefood .orbeverage displayed or .kept on the shelves; refrigerated cabinets in which the goods are placed in bins or compartments accessible from above after opening the doors (usually sliding doors) which normally close the top of the bins against refrigeration loss; refrigerated :cabinets having similar open top bins or compartments but not provided with doors or thelike. The foregoing is'not intended as-an exhaustiveenumeration ofzthervarious types of frefrigerated display cabinets to which this invention pertains. It tissufii-cient to state that the invention relates to all refrigerated :display cabinets which have a lower storage compartment asdescribed above.

One :of theiobj'ects 'of the invention is to :proyide means for facilitating the loading of cases or cartons into thestorage compartment of refrigerated display cabinets, and the withdrawal ofsuch cases-or cartons (Which'are frequent oc- 'currences in .the constant replenishing of the display compartments, as explainedabove). Another object of invention .is to provide'means for protecting-the sides and bottom of "the door opening against injury bythe cases as'they are-loaded into, or withdrawn from, the storage compartment. Still another object of the invention is .to provideanrimproved door for storage compartments of refrigerated-display cabinets which will notspresentwhen open, an obstacle or hindrance in-front. of the storage compartment as in the case with'the doors as heretofore used.

For the attainment of the foregoing and such other objects of :invention :as :may appear :or .be :pointedout therein, '.-1 shave shown a ;.preferred em- 2 .bodiment of my invention in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of 'a refrigerated display cabinet, the storage compartment of which is provided with the improved doors, one of which is shown'in' open position;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation "taken on theline 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation .similar to Fig. 2 butshowing the door in closed position;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the .line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation (similar to Figs. 2 and 3) but showing the invention applied :to sliding doors, rather than hinged doors (as :in Figsl-4);

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation -similar to 5, but showing the sliding "doors closed; and

Fig. '7 is aihorizontal sectional view taken :on

the line 'I-Tof Fig. 5.

.The refrigerated display cabinet shown in Fig. 1 is of the type described in the foregoing state- .ment of'invention having'a display compartment I open or accessible at the top, which mayor may not be provided with sliding doors, and which is usually partitionedinto a plurality of bins (not shown). This type of refrigerated display cabinet has been shown merely for facility of illustration, it being apparent, as explained in 'the statement of invention, that the invention is applicable to any type ofrefrigerated display cabinet so long as it has 'a lower storage compartment such .as is indicated in Fig. '1 and designated 2.

Storage compartment 2 is shown in .Fig. 1 :as

"having threedoors3, one 'o'fwhich is inopenxposition. The doors are sufiiciently large -to1permit passage of quantity-lot cases which, as explained in the statement of invention, are kept in :storage compartment 2 for constant replenis'hment of the display bins l, or displayshelves, etc, depending upon the type of refrigerated cabinet.

It should be noted from the open door of :Fig. 1

' that the improved storage doors open'upwardly,

being hinged at the top of the door :opening. In refrigerated display cabinets as "heretofore made the doors to the storage compartment are hinged atone or the other sideofth-e door opening so that "they open outwardly or extend forwardly at "the front of the cabinet. 'Whenit 'is realized that the cabinet may'have a number of storage doors and that the quantity-lot cases are :of considerable size and weight, it will be evident that the opening of one or morestorage doors (usually all are opened to ascertain the proper arrangement of the cases and cartons within the storage compartment) will present obstacles to free movement of the cases in front of the cabinet. In the improved arrangement of Fig. 1, the entire front of the cabinet is free and clear of any obstacles even when all the storage doors are opened. By reason of their being hinged at the top of the door opening, the improved doors when opened upwardly occupy a position which is entirely away from the floor space in front of the cabinet, which is thus left free and clear for movement of the cases or cartons.

The improved hinge arrangement is shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 3, wherein the rear wall of storage compartment 2 is designated 4; the floor 5, and the roof 6. The top or lintel of the door opening is designated 1 and the bottom or saddle is designated 8. One half ll of the hinge is secured to lintel I while the other half 1-3 of the hinge is secured to door 3; the hinge pin'is designated 12. The door is shown in Fig. 2 in its open position. There also is shown in Fig. 2 two accessories of the present invention, namely, a shield 36] for protecting the sides of the door opening and an inclined plate 2%) for facilitating movement of the cases or cartons. Both the protective shield 3i) and the inclined plate 26 will be fully described subsequently. But attention is called to them at this time because as shown in Fig. 2, the side shield 30 and the bottom plate 2!) occupy positions within the door openin which would prevent closing of door 3. As will be more fully described subsequently, the side protective shield 30 and the inclined plate 28 are turned from their operative positions shown in Fig. 2 to inoperative positions within the storage compartment, see Fig. 3, preparatory to closing the door. Door 3 can then be sealed tight, as shown in Fig. 3, with its distal side abutting saddle 8 of the opening, and held closed by door lock 9.

The aforesaid inclined plate extends the full length or" the door opening, see Fig. 4, between the side jambs thereof. In Fig. 4 is shown the door at one end of storage compartment 2, the end wall thereof being designated H. The door jamb at end wall H of the storage compartment is designated [5, and one of the medial door jambs (partially shown in Fig. 4) is d'esignated 15. Referring to Fig. 2, inclined plate 20 extends from the inside edge of door saddle 8 outwardly, with its outer edge 2| resting on the floor. Saddle 8 is inclined downwardly from its inner edge, so that plateZO takes the angle of inclination of the saddle. At the inner edge of door saddle 8, inclined plate 28 is bent downwardly to present a narrow flange 28, which forms part of a hinge IS. The other part of hinge I8 is a narrow strip l9 which is secured to the inside wall of saddle 8. Inclined plate 23 (including its narrow flange 28) may thus be turned about hinge pin I8 from its operative position, Figs. 2 and 4, to its inoperative position within storage compartment 2, see Fig. 3. In the latter position, inclined plate 20 clears door saddle 8, so that door 3 may make'a tight closure therewith, as shown in Fig. 3.

Inclined plate 20 has one or more openings 22 (three being shown, by way of example, in Fig. 4) through which project the upper portions of rollers 23 rotatively mounted at the underside of inclined plate 20, as indicated. by shaft pin 2d, Fig. 4. Heavy cases and cartons may thus be pushed into, and pulled out of, storage compart- 4 ment 2, by means of inclined plate 20 and its rollers 23. Inclined plate 20 serves another function in protecting the door saddle 8 when in operative position, as in Fig. 2.

The protective shields 36, mentioned above, protect the door jambs against injury by the cases as they are moved into and out of the storage compartment. Referring to Fig. 4, there is a protective shield 36 at each of the two door jambs l5, l6. Protective shield 30 is bent at the inner edge of the door jambs to provide a flange 38 which forms part of a hinge 37. The other part of the hinge is a narrow strip 39 which is secured to the inside wall of the door jambs l5, It. The outer edge of shield 30 is bent back slightly to form a lip 36 which protects the outer edges of the door j ambs, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. In the latter position, the two protective shields are in operative position (see also Fig. 2). The shields 30 may be turned on their hinge pins 31, to an inoperative position within the storage compartment, see Fig. 3, so that door 3 may be closed, as shown in that figure.

Inclined plate 20 and the pair of protective shields 3d, 36 have been shown in Figs. 1-4 as applied to storage compartments having hinged doors. They may be similarly applied to storage compartments having sliding doors, as in Figs. 5-7, wherein their frames, have been given reference numerals similar to that of Figs. 1-4. It should be noted that door saddle 8 and lintel 1 (Figs. 5 and 6) and door jambs 15, is (Fig. 7) are not beveled as in Figs. 1-4 but are square. The sliding door frame All is fitted securely around the door opening, more particularly, the door saddle 8 and lintel 7 (Figs. 5-6) and door jambs l5, l6 (Fig. 7). Frame 40 has two sets of runners ll, 42 the firstfor an inwardly-disposed slidin door 63 and runners 42 for an outwardlydisposed sliding door 44. Sliding doors 43 and 3d are substantially half the length of the door opening so that when slid to one side, as in Fig. the other half of the door is open.

As best seen in Fig. 7, the sliding door opening is provided with two inclined plates 29, 2H each substantially half the length of the door opening. When the two doors d3, 4 are slid to one end of the opening, the inclined plate 29 at that end of the opening is in inoperative position behind the pair of sliding doors, as shown. The other inclined plate 28 may be turned to operative position, projecting through the opening at the other end, as shown. Likewise, two protector shields 30, 3B are provided. The one at the door jamb (I 6, Fig. '7) towards which the two doors have been slid is in inoperative position behind the doors, as shown. The other protective shield 30, at door jamb i5, is in operative position, protecting that side of the door opening at which inclined plate 28 is disposed in operative position.

The inclined plate used with the hinged d'oor (Figs. 1-4) is straight from outer edge '21, see Fig. 2, to the inside edge of door saddle 8, where it is bent to form flange 28. On the other hand, the inclined plate used with the sliding doors (Figs. 5 7) is straight from outer edge 2!, see Fig. 5, only to the outside edge of door saddle 8. The portion of plate 20 between the outside edge of the door saddle to the downwardly-bent flange 28 is bent slightly, as indicated at 25, Fig. 5, to provide a horizontal portion which rests upon the runners il, 42 of the sliding door frame.

I claim:

1. In a storage compartment for a refrigerated display cabinet having a door opening spaced from the bottom of the compartment floor by a saddle, in combination, an inclined plate having an outer edge rested on the floor in front of the cabinet, the inner edge portion of the inclined plate being bent at the inner edge of said saddle to present a narrow flange, and a strip secured to the inside wall of said saddle close to the floor of the compartment, said narrow flange and strip forming a hinge whereby the inclined plate may be turned to operative position extending through the door opening or to inoperative position within the compartment.

2. The combination according to claim 1 for a storage compartment having a hinged door and wherein said saddle is inclined downwardly from its inside edge, said inclined plate being substantially the length of said door opening and extending as a straight plate from said inner edge of the saddle and having an angle of inclination equal to that of the saddle.

3. The combination according to claim 1 for a storage compartment having a pair of sliding doors and wherein said saddle is square, pro vided with a pair of inclined plates each substantially half the length of said door opening, each plate being inclined from the outer edge of the saddle to the floor, the portion between the outer edge of the saddle and said plate flange being bent to rest horizontally above the saddle.

4. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said inclined plate is provided with at least one opening, a roller rotatively mounted to the underside of the plate with the upper portion thereof extending through said opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 554,163 Wollerman Feb. 4, 1896 1,006,025 Taylor Oct. 17, 1911 1,209,376 Bailey Dec. 19, 1916 1,568,729 Gearon Jan. 5, 1926 1,593,455 McCreary July 20, 1926 2,114,158 Vasbinder Apr. 12, 1938 2,342,298 Pearson Feb. 22, 1944 2,501,404 Muller Mar, 21, 1950 2,565,129 Hermani Aug. 21, 19 1 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 27,486 Switzerland Nov. 20, 1902 

